


Steps

by TheIntelligentHufflepuff



Series: Post-Infinity War ruminations [2]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Communication, Complicated Relationships, Friendship, Gen, Light Angst, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Reconciliation, Sort Of, cap's new shield
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-11
Updated: 2018-06-11
Packaged: 2019-05-21 03:44:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14907686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheIntelligentHufflepuff/pseuds/TheIntelligentHufflepuff
Summary: Steve gets a new shield. He and Tony get back on the right foot.





	Steps

**Author's Note:**

> Below is some background of my thoughts writing this. If you do or don't read it, I hope you find this quick drabble in some way satisfying! 
> 
> This is the first time I've written Tony in fic and it was really rushed (literally the entire thing was written in the duration of a bus ride) but I was thinking about how they might show Steve and Tony meeting again given how inconsistently their relationship is portrayed throughout the MCU (they hate, then tolerate each other, then they're best buddies, then Tony can't even bring himself to call Steve at the end of the world, and all of this happens without them ever having a genuine moment of true understanding) and what reasons there might be for that other than plot device (for example maybe Tony does understand Steve but he's disappointed in him, maybe he feels guilty; maybe Steve didn't realise how close Tony thought they were, and that hurt Tony, or maybe Steve is the one who doesn't understand Tony). I was also thinking of whether Steve will return to a more traditional shield or not- in this fic its based on the one I've seen Coulson using in pics of Agents of Shield, though I'm a few series behind so I don't actually know how that one works. Also, softcore stucky because I just can't not include it cos it's gonna affect Steve's though processes a lot.

“So.” Tony says when he sees Steve, uncharacteristically subdued “You survived.” 

 

Steve winces internally, wondering who's absence Tony is noting when he sees Steve so stubbornly there. 

 

“Apparently.” 

 

“As cheery as ever, huh?” 

 

“Looks like.” 

 

They lapse into silence, carefully avoiding each other’s eyes. Stuff it. 

 

“Tony-” Steve starts, at the same time as Tony says “Steve-”. 

 

Rhodey, hovering in the corner of the dull meeting room wary and ready to mediate, laughs. It's a dulled sound, same as any laugh Steve's heard since the event the media is calling The Snap, but it warms Steve slightly nonetheless. 

 

Tony's lips twitch. 

 

“Before we get into it,” Steve says, shaking his head “You should know that I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the tape. I know it doesn't matter now, or at least it shouldn't at this point, but...I'm sorry.” 

 

“I get it.” Tony nods, though tight lines pull around his eyes “I'm sorry I tried to kill you.” 

 

He doesn't mention Bucky; Steve doesn't expect him to, but… 

 

“Sam, as well.” 

 

“What?” Tony frowns. 

 

“Sam. You shot him in the chest.” 

 

“I-” Tony looks bewildered, and Steve realises with a flush of annoyance, that he carefully controls, that Tony hadn't even realised what he did “Okay. I apologise to Sam, too. Not that he knows.” 

 

Okay. Steve does wince that time, and Rhodey responds with a quiet, terse “Tony.” 

 

They were getting closer, Sam and Rhodey, Steve muses. There was a lot of respect between them. 

 

“Can we move on?” Steve asks. 

 

He misses Bucky. Of course, he couldn't have guaranteed that Bucky wouldn't have flown at Tony’s throat (figuratively or literally) on seeing him, given what he did to him in the silo, but he’d never held grudges for long and he was so much better with people than Steve: he'd have had them working together as a well oiled machine in no time. 

 

“Sure.” Tony nods, shoving his hands into his pockets “But one thing-” 

 

He hesitates and Steve holds his breath. Waiting for what, he doesn't know. It's not as if Tony hasn't made his rejection of their former- comradeship, he'd say- pretty clear already. 

 

“Your shield.” Tony says. 

 

“What about it?” Steve prods. He’ll be fairly annoyed if Tony’s melted it down to make vibranium screws. 

 

“I made you a new one. Well,” he flaps a hand around vaguely “A prototype. A new prototype.” 

 

“Oh.” Steve says. 

 

Rhodey looks on in interest; news to him, too. 

 

“Well, Shuri-” 

 

“I saw what Shuri made,” Tony cuts him off, gesturing dismissively “It's good tech- don't tell her I admitted that- but it's not  _ you.”  _

 

_ “Me?”  _

 

“Y’know.” Tony shrugs “Pincer claws. Like an angry lobster. You're meant to be protecting the world, not pinching it.” 

 

For the millionth time with Tony, Steve is at a loss for words. He's not sure if he's offended, flattered that Tony doesn't seem to have believed anything the media’s been saying about the legality and morality of his activities, or plain confused. He opts for the latter. 

 

“I'm not Captain America anymore.” 

 

“Yeah, yeah, you're a nomad, I get it. But you're still,” Tony makes a sour face “Fighting the good fight, from what I hear. So do you want the shield or not? You know what,” he continues without letting Steve respond “Look at it.” 

 

Then he takes what appears to be a lump of metal out of his jacket pocket and plunks it on the desk. 

 

“Try it.”

 

Steve picks it up, turning it over as his fingers puzzle across its surface trying to find a catch or a release. 

 

“Put it on.” 

 

“Put it on?” 

 

“Your wrist.” 

 

He does. The metal is warm against his skin, fit snugly. He holds it out, but nothing happens. 

 

“Flick your wrist.” Tony instructs. 

 

Steve obliges; the device still remains immobile. 

 

“Maybe,” Tony suggests with a smirk “Flick a finger out. Your middle one, perhaps?” 

 

Steve gives him a look, but does so. All of his annoyance immediately evaporates in wonder as a glowing hexagon appears before him, slightly concave just like his old shield but broader and barely there, like the afterglow of sparklers waved in the dark. He moves his arm and it follows him. When he touches it with his other hand, he can feel its weight. 

 

“I'm told Coulson has one similar.” Tony declares “But this one’s better.” 

 

“It's alright.” Steve comments dryly “Bucky will-” 

 

He clamps his mouth shut. 

 

“Take it.” Tony says “Fix what we’ve lost.”

 

Steve looks at him steadily. A small, cynical part of him can't help but wonder if they're only in the same room together now because Bucky is dead. But a larger part thinks that even if that's true, it's not just Bucky that he's lost. And even if Tony hasn't lost Pepper, that doesn't mean what losses he has endured don't hurt. 

 

Steve wonders if their relationship is included in that. He wouldn't be opposed, but his trust in Tony has never, despite his willing it to be, been airtight- they’d have a lot to work on. But perhaps not working to know each other was where they went wrong the first time. 

 

Funny how death just makes you think of life. 

 

“You got your suit?” Steve asks. 

 

Tony nods. 

 

“Then let's get started.” 

 


End file.
